Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

Pierre Lamont Griffin II pleads guilty on Nov. 6, 2017, in the 2015 murders of three Asheville residents. He avoided the death penalty and will spend life in prison.

Buy Photo

Pierre Lamont Griffin is led into Buncombe County Superior Court carrying a Bible where he will plead guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and other charges that include destroying a body or remains concealing an unnatural death and robbery with a dangerous weapon, avoiding the death penalty, Monday, November 6, 2017. Griffin is accused of shooting 20-year-old Tatianna Diz, 22-year-old Alexandra King and 31-year-old Uhon Trumanne Johnson in October 2015.(Photo: Matt Burkhartt/mburkhartt@citize)Buy Photo

ASHEVILLE — Pierre Lamont Griffin II, the 24-year-old man accused of killing three people in 2015, will spend life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to charges Monday.

The case riveted the community just over two years ago, with two victims' fates unknown for days until their bodies were discovered in the French Broad River.

Griffin pleaded guilty to shooting and killing 20-year-old Tatianna Diz, 22-year-old Alexandra King and 31-year-old Uhon Trumanne Johnson. Griffin had been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and other charges that include destroying a body or remains, concealing an unnatural death and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams had intended to seek the death penalty. On Monday, he said Griffin was spared from heading to trial because he admitted guilt to all counts in what he called "an airtight case."

Williams said the decision keeps the victims' families from encountering "a lot of unnecessary trauma."

"The tragedy here is almost indescribable," he said. "The message you heard in court today is the same message you've heard. It's timeless. This grief is going to be with them forever."

Griffin, dressed in a black-and-gray striped prison outfit, seldom spoke during Monday's hearing at the Buncombe County Courthouse, attended by at least 60 people, including many family members of the victims. He stood quietly next to attorney Keith Hanson while the charges were read and listened as the victims' family members offered tearful statements to Superior Court Judge William Coward.

John Johnson, Uhon Johnson's father, provided an emotional set of remarks, arguing that Griffin is a "killer" and that he wants him to "suffer" in prison.

"Don’t be fooled by his innocent face," Johnson said. "He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing."

Griffin was charged with shooting Diz and King and dumping their bodies in the French Broad River. Police say Diz and King, who were a couple, picked up Griffin from Deaverview Apartments. They then went to a secluded area near the French Broad River, where Griffin stole King's vehicle.

The car later was found along the river, bloodied and with a bullet hole in the passenger headrest. About a week after they were reported missing by a family member, the remains of both women were discovered near a train trestle on Emma Road in the River Arts District.

Williams said Monday that drugs, believed to be heroin, were a factor in the women's deaths.

Police said Griffin fatally shot Johnson in his home in Pisgah View Apartments shortly thereafter during an armed robbery. Griffin was captured in Polk County after being shot by Henderson County sheriff's deputies.

When asked if he was guilty of the charges presented, Griffin told the court, simply, "Yes."

Buy Photo

Pierre Lamont Griffin sits with his attorneys in Buncombe County Superior Court where he will plead guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and other charges that include destroying a body or remains concealing an unnatural death and robbery with a dangerous weapon, avoiding the death penalty, Monday, November 6, 2017. Griffin is accused of shooting 20-year-old Tatianna Diz, 22-year-old Alexandra King and 31-year-old Uhon Trumanne Johnson in October 2015.(Photo: Matt Burkhartt/mburkhartt@citize)

"I just pray that the families of everyone involved can be comforted by God’s love, despite the circumstances," Griffin told the room in a short statement. "That’s all."

Families of the victims slowly lurched out of the court and into the hallway following the proceeding. Griffin followed, standing up from the table, facing his family and blowing them a kiss. He told them, "Love you all," and family members responded with a "Love you." He was escorted out down the staircase to prison, where the court says he will never see the street again.

Williams said he believes the victims' families left the courthouse Monday with a sense of legal closure, even if a feeling of personal closure is never attainable.

"(The families) know that Pierre Griffin is in a cell, the door slammed shut on him and he will go and die in the custody of the state of North Carolina," Williams said. "We don't know when that will be. He's a young man. But he is not getting out."